Radio Bimshire Presents

Continue the journey with Edward Kamau Brathwaite as he reads two poems from his collection Islands , recorded in 1973. "Pebbles & Islands" and "Coral" delve into the Caribbean experience—fragmentation, memory, and the search for unity. Brathwaite uses imagery of islands and coral reefs to reflect on shared heritage and resilience.

We begin the first episode of "Sounds of Freedom" with the late Alfred Pragnell, known for his warmth and connection to Bajan culture, reading "The Dust" by Edward Kamau Brathwaite. This poem explores the legacies of slavery, the resilience of the people, and the beauty in everyday life, capturing both the dialect and the weight of history.

For folk historian G Addinton Forde, who was born in Blades Hill, St Philip, life revolved around the streams that poured out of the nearby Three Houses Spring, one of the oldest water supply sources in Barbados, centuries before water from the island's limestone aquifers was piped to standpipes in communities across the island.

The late historian Trevor G Marshall shares a story of life at the standpipe, not just a source of piped water to the villages of bygone Barbados but a meeting point - in love and war.

Beyond the wash basin, the Barbadian washerwoman was a central figure in the community and for the planters and other VIPs. On this episode of Standpipe, the late historian Trevor Marshall explores the social dynamics at the standpipe, the informal networks of support, and how these women contributed - and restored - the fabric of Barbadian society, one wash load at a time.

The standpipe was once a central feature in villages across Barbados, dating back to the 1860s. But it took a devastating cholera epidemic that claimed the lives of more than 20,000 Barbadians in 1854 to push the colonial government to bring piped water, first to the capital, Bridgetown, and eventually, everywhere. The late historian Trevor Marshall in his last recorded interview picks up the stor...

In his last interview a few months before his death in February 2025, the renowned folk historian, educator - and proud product of the rural eastern parish of St John - Trevor G Marshall, describes how important wash day was in the lives of Barbadians, even when most people had few clothes.